Press Release
September 3, 2008

Senate can help peace negotiators in an advisory capacity -- Pimentel

Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's plan to tap the Senate's help in the Mindanao peace process indicates her willingness to rectify the government's mistakes in past negotiations.

However, Pimentel said it is unfortunate that the President came to recognize the Senate's role as collaborator in the quest for a peace settlement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front only now - after the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain was overwhelming repudiated by members of Congress and local government officials in Mindanao on account of constitutional infirmities and other patently unacceptable provisions.

The President has reportedly agreed to a suggestion for the Senate to be represented in the government panel during the peace negotiation. If that is the case, Pimentel said the role of the Senate representative should be limited to rendering advice to the government negotiators.

Pimentel said the Senate should not be part of the negotiation because that is the exclusive function of the executive branch.

"We can assist in the negotiation in an advisory capacity. It would be inappropriate on our part to get involved in the negotiation itself. We are not allowed to do that," he said.

Since the Senate is not the negotiating arm of government, Pimentel said it is in fact enough that Malacañang consults with and brief the senators on matters related to the peace process as often as necessary.

He said there should be no repetition of the outrageous circumstances in which the MoA on Ancestral Domain was kept under wraps by Malacañang even at the stage where it was about to be signed by the government and the MILF.

Copies of the MoA were sent to the Senate only when the widespread objections and criticisms against the document had erupted into a full-blown controversy.

Pimentel said the government's immediate duty is to restore law and order in the conflict areas, assist the evacuees and punish the criminals who started the upheaval in Mindanao.

Pimentel said the sad fact is that the peace talks are now stalemated on account of the President's own declaration that the government will no longer sign the MoA on ancestral in its present form and the threat of a renewed war coming particularly from hawkish leaders of the MILF.

In all likelihood, he said it will take sometime before the peace talks can be restarted. However, he cautioned administration officials and political leaders against making statements that would incite hostilities and diminish the chances for saving the peace process.

"We should avoid making statements that would only provoke further antagonism and escalate the armed conflict. Meanwhile, our armed forces and POLICE should pursue their task of restoring law and order in the conflict areas to show that there is only one government in this Republic," the senator from Mindanao said.

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